8

I would like to use the letter W in a set of lyrics in a choral work. I want the performers to pronounce all three syllables of the letter, as if they were spelling.

Wikipedia suggests spelling it "double-u" (source).

For the lyrics, would the syllabification dou-ble-u be wise, or would dou-ble-you be less likely to cause confusion?

nuggethead
  • 5,114
  • 6
  • 35

1 Answers1

9

I've found three general takes.

  1. In sheet music, the most common is just to write "W___", where the bar extends under the relevant notes/rhythm.

    "ABC" song showing use of "W____"
    (Image source)

  2. In lyrics-only websites, it is also most common to just use the letter "W".

    "National Association of 'W' Lovers lyrics
    (Image source)

  3. Less frequently used is "double-u", but there are examples.

    "ABC" song use of "double-u"
    (Image source)

  4. I found no examples of "double-you", and would personally find that confusing at first glance.

Community
  • 1
Aaron
  • 87,951
  • 13
  • 114
  • 294
  • 7
    W _____ is super-confusing anywhere else than the alphabet song (where it makes sense to list it this way probably). I would just go with double U, preferring readibility over meaning. – yo' Aug 07 '23 at 13:35
  • 3
    The second song doesn't scan well. The rhyme for "trouble" is just "double", so the "you" has to slip into the next line. – Barmar Aug 07 '23 at 13:57
  • American singers might be puzzled that you've asked them to fit the two syllables dub-yuh into three notes... Spell out exactly what you want - non-UK English speakers have different names for the letter W. – Brian THOMAS Aug 07 '23 at 14:46
  • 3
    @BrianTHOMAS American's also pronounce it "dou-ble-u". – Aaron Aug 07 '23 at 16:03
  • 1
    @yo' I think it makes sense in the alphabet song only to reduce the risk of confusing people who are using the alphabet song to learn the alphabet. I've encountered children who thought variously that "n" was in the alphabet twice or that "and" was a letter. Not to mention ellemenno.... – phoog Aug 07 '23 at 16:38
  • 1
    @BrianTHOMAS what varieties of English use any name other than "double U"? Some Americans may say "dubyuh" when they're speaking, but they use three syllabes when singing the alphabet song. – phoog Aug 07 '23 at 16:40
  • "Double-u" is the official name of the letter W, according to multiple sources on the web such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W – Greg Martin Aug 07 '23 at 16:58
  • 2
    Americans understand dialectical differences as well as any Britisher. Written one way, pronounced perhaps differently in common dialect, and then differently again in my local dialect. Not a big deal. – Wayne Conrad Aug 07 '23 at 18:19
  • 1
    @phoog: In fact, "and" (that is, the character &) was considered a "letter" 200 years ago. – dan04 Aug 07 '23 at 18:22
  • 3
    @Barmar I think it's just not split up properly, it looks like it should be: "it's not any trouble, you/know it's a double-u". When written like that it scans much better. – Idran Aug 07 '23 at 19:20